'Sing it with me! Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open---'
'What's going on here?' Junmyeon piped up, walking into his sons' room with a mug in hand.
'Black coffee again, Junnie?' Yixing raised an eyebrow.
'Yes, I--- Yixing, why are you dressed up in a Christmas tree hoodie? Where did you buy it, anyway?'
'I... bought it from the mall this morning?' came the sheepish reply. 'Look, Zitao loves Christmas and wanted to cosplay so I thought to myself, "why not?".'
'Yixing---'
'So I bought this and Santa costumes for them, and they're actually cute if you think about it!'
'Yixi---'
'And I even fished out the fake beard for Sehun to wear, and we've got the hat, too---'

'Kim-Zhang Yixing!' Junmyeon raised his voice, firmly holding the Chinese male by the shoulders. 'You look downright adorable.'
So saying, he broke out into a gentle smile and softly kissed his husband.

'How do you feel?' Yixing breathed after the long kiss.
'Amazing, why?'
'Oh, just wanted to know... I mean, it's not every day that you get to make out with a tree, right?'
Yixing laughed and Junmyeon pinched his nose in retort.

'At least I---'
'Apba?' Zitao's shrill voice piped up meekly. They turned to the side and found Zitao covering his eyes.
'Are you done being icky?'
'We're done being icky, baby,' Junmyeon laughed, hugging Zitao into his lap. Just then, Sehun walked in with the fake beard round his neck.

'Apba, help,' he pouted, plopping into Yixing's lap and resting his legs on Junmyeon's knee. Yixing promptly fixed the beard on and ruffled Sehun's hair, cooing at Zitao as he babbled something to Sehun about crayons and drawing chimneys.


'So, wanna telll me why you're so tired all the time now?'
'Playschool's difficult,' Junmyeon sighed, taking a sip of coffee. The two boys were now hiding in their playhouse, their hands occasionally poking out the cloth door to grab a cookie.

'The kids are so boisterous! It's difficult to keep up with that kind of energy, I can actually feel that I'm growing old.'
Yixing brought a hand up to caress his husband's cheek as an act of comfort.
'But they're actually pretty funny, you know?' he smiled. 'Kyuhyun and Changmin - these two just can't sit still! They tried to pose as dragons once, and ended up in the next classroom all together. Lord knows we should always keep an eye on them. And Ryeowook is this cute little kid - he just loves treating Jeonghan and Seungkwan like they're his younger brothers.'

Junmyeon went on to talk about various things: about how Seungkwan cried for his mother during the fire and earthquake drills, about how Jihoon loved to sing nursery rhymes and threw a tantrum whenever Junmyeon didn't sing to him before napping. Yixing hugged his knees and listened to his husband, a light smile on his lips that died down a little after Junmyeon fell silent.

'You... still miss being a lawyer, don't you?'
'... I do. God, I do! I wonder sometimes... how Yifan's coping with all this. Then again, turns out he prefers being a model and actor over being a lawyer. But I...' the older Kim-Zhang trailed off. Yixing pulled Junmyeon close, letting the Korean male rest his head on his lap. He ran his fingers through his short hair, massaging his scalp here and there.
'We'll find opportunities for you again, Myeon.'
'I sure hope so, Xing.'






'Hello? Anyone home?' a voice called out. Junmyeon lifted his head a little, exchanging a curious look with Yixing. The Chinese male got up to answer the door, returning moments later with their surprise guest.
'Jaejoong-hyung!' Junmyeon exclaimed.
Some shuffling could be heard and the two children wriggled out of their playhouse.
'Uncle Jae!' Sehun squealed, rushing forward to hug Jaejoong's legs.
'God Jae!' Zitao grinned, jumping up and down excitedly.
'You've got that right, Tao-zi,' Jaejoong smirked, bending to scoop both the boys up.

'Didn't you see the message I sent you?' Jaejoong raised his eyebrows.
'No... when...?'
'I'm staying here till dinner, don't mind. Mom's college friend came over today and she's a huge pain in the---'
'Language, hyung!' Yixing chided.
'---big rump,' Jaejoong finished, setting Sehun and Zitao down on the bed.
'Merry Christmas, kids,' he finally wished, sitting on the floor next to Yixing.

'So! What's the latest news?'















































The Kim-Zhangs and Jaejoong spent the rest of the evening playing different group games. Sehun and Zitao sang some carols they had learned in lispy voices, trying hard not to look into their carol books. After dinner, it was time to open presents - something the children hadn't done that morning as they had school.

Sehun had been gifted a Reindeer hoodie by his parents, a plush toy that looked just like him knitted by Junmyeon's mother amongst other things. Zitao had been gifted a Santa hoodie and a knitted plush toy replica by his parents and Junmyeon's mother respectively.

Jaejoong gifted the children a small box of Swiss chocolates each, coaxing Yixing into letting them have one as dessert.

'Brush your teeth before bed, kids,' Junmyeon reminded, but was paid no attention - Sehun and Zitao were too busy observing the beautifully-shaped chocolates gifted to them.





 

'Baba, help!' Luhan squealed, shuffling towards his older father and clutching the heap of clothes tightly. Minseok took the clothes into his own arms and set them on his bed.
'What are you trying to do, Lulu?'
'I want to teach you Mandarin.'
'Okay... what are the clothes for, baby?'
'I want to look like a teacher! So I took some of appa's clothes... I want to wear them!'

Minseok laughed at Luhan's innocence and ruffled the boy's hair.
'Why not my clothes?'
'But you're my student!' Luhan pouted cutely. 'I can't dress up like my student!'

With that, the child pushed his father out of the master bedroom and closed the door.

'Don't peek!' he cried out.
'I won't,' Minseok sang, smiling to himself. A hand went up to re-adjust his headband, his fingers brushing over the cat ears - the gift Jongdae had presented him with years ago. He sat by the door and whipped his phone out, texting his husband.

Hey. Did you have lunch yet?
Don't skip out again, okay? You've been growing thinner - I can see it, you know.
Haven't you been sleeping enough? Your eyes seemed droopy in yesterday's show.
Are you straining yourself? Because I heard your voice crack here and there when you sang during the interview.
Please take care, baby.
I love you.



Minseok sent the text, then began to go through his gallery. There were five folders: one dedicated to Luhan, one to him and Jongdae, one t